Culvert.



A. REUTERDAI-IL.

GULVEBT; APPLICATION FILED OQ'I. 7, 1911.

WITNESSES INVENTOR /MZW 7 1 COLUMBIA PLANouRAlfi-l co., WASHINGTON. D c.

' PatentedJune ARVID REUTERDAHL, OF BOISE, IDAHO.

CULVERT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1912.

Application filed October 7, 1911. Serial No. 653,441.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARvID REUTERDAHL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boise, in the county of Ada and State of Idaho, have invented a new and useful Culvert, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in culverts and more particularly to nestable culverts made in sections and constructed of such material as either iron or steel or other suitable metal.

The objects of my improvement are first, to provide a culvert free from rivets or bolts which are liable to disintegration due to electrolysis or similar causes; second, to provide for expansion caused by the freezing of water within the culvert; and third, to provide a simple means of'positively interlocking the sections of the culvert without resorting to auxiliary parts or members riveted or bolted to the main sections of the culvert. I attain these objects by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which the figure is a partial side view of the top and bottom sections of the culvert.

The top section A in the figure is provided with teeth or denticles a which pass into the incisions or cuts 1) provided in the bottom section B.

The figure shows the teeth a in the upper section A passing into the incisions b from the inner side or surface of the lower section B, thus exposing the teeth a on the outside of section B. This is a preferable arrangement but not an essential one. The teeth a of upper section A may pass from the outer surface of the lower section B through the incisions 6 into the interior of the lower section B. The tooth or denticle a is in turn provided with an auxiliary looking tooth 0 which is produced by cutting through the metal of the main tooth a, leaving the lower part of the auxiliary locking tooth 0 integral with said main tooth. The auxiliary locking tooth 0 is thus released from the body of the main tooth a on all sides except the lower'where it is permanently held and retained to said main tooth a. The auxiliary locking tooth 0 is then forced slightly outward along its upper edge from said main tooth a. The elasticity of the metal from which section A is made will cause the auxiliary locking tooth c to retain its outward deflection. Hence when the main tooth a is forced into the incision or cut I) sufliciently far to allow the auxiliary locking tooth c to clear the upper edge of the incision or out b, said auxiliary looking tooth 0 will spring outward due to the elasticity of the material thus locking section A to section B and preventing the two sections from being permanently pulled apart or detached.

It isevident that relative motion within a limited latitude is possible between section A and section B. This relative, though limited, motion is a most essential feature of I this improvement, for upon this very characteristic is founded the possibility of providing for expansion due to the freezing of water within the culvert during cold weather.

It is not essential that the auxiliary looking tooth a shall project over and above the upper edge of the incision b. All that is necessary for the successful operation of this improvement is that the upper edge of the auxiliary tooth 0 can abut with the upper edge of the incision b. The main tooth or denticle a is in either case made of sufficient length to allow for the relative motion of sectionA and, section B due to expansion.

In carrying out the principles of this invention semi-circular or other suitably shaped sections are made and provided with a number of main teeth a along one edge and with a number of incisions I) along the other edge. It is evident that both edges of the same section may be provided with main teeth a in which case the other section must be provided with incisions Z) along both edges. Top sections as well as bottom sections are lapped slightly. The laps are staggered by placing the top sections in such a relative position to the bottom sections that the mid-point of the top section coincides with the point of lap in the bottom sections. At the two extremities of the culvert half-sections are therefore necessary to complete it.

It is evident that the relative position of section A and section B may be reversed, section A being made the bottom and section B the top. Furthermore, it is clear that the device is applicable to either smooth or corrugated culvert construction. It is also evident that the particular form of the main teeth a is not an essential part of this improvement. Moreover the device may be constructed Without the auxiliary locking teeth 0 in Which case it Will still be operative.

The particular form of the auxiliary looking teeth 0 may be varied in a number of Ways Without affecting the principle of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

The combination, in a culvert, of a suitably formed section having teeth or dentioles projecting therefrom, said teeth being provided With auxiliary locking teeth pro truding therefrom, With a section providedset forth.

ARVID REUTERDAHL. Witnesses:

RICHARD N. FAGER, F. ALEX. STEWART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0'. 

